CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FOURTY SEVEN

"Okay, this easily has to be the most interesting thing I've seen so far." Yuri commented, stepping through the hotel room door with a decently-large box in his arms. Viktor held the door open to let him through and then followed in behind, "I've seen pictures before but never had a chance to see it in person."

"You're oddly excited about this." The Russian observed, letting the door click shut on its own as he carried a few more bags within. He peeked around the room briefly, "Hm...we're going to have to think about upgrading our suite in Sapporo if this keeps up...we won't have room for us amidst all the stuff."

Yuri was already unpacking the box, setting two smaller white-cardboard containers on the bed next to where he sat. The larger container, sturdier wood, was placed on the floor and nudged out of the way, "Get the lights, will you?"

"The lights?" The silver man echoed, but clicked them off as asked, "Sure..." The room got significantly dimmer, but the bustle of lights from a night-time city was enough to illuminate the room so the pair could still see where they were going. As Viktor set the lighter bags aside, he pulled his coat off and shuffled over the top of the bed on his hands and knees, moving closer and then crossing his legs to await the 'big reveal.'

"There's basically two major kinds of carvings that I know of." The younger skater started, pulling the protective paper packing from the first of the two smaller boxes, and unwrapping the item within carefully, "There's the sort where it's just an object, like this one..." He held up a 6in figure of a Pheonix sitting amongst roses, its long peacock-like tail acting as a 'stand' for the piece. Viktor already knew what it looked like, so Yuri set it onto the table next to the bed, moving back to retrieve the second of the two containers, "And then there's these other ones..." More paper was carefully removed, and Yuri held up a more rounded, almost egg-like shape, with a carving inside. Next to come out was his phone, and he popped up the Flashlight app, holding it up directly behind the sculpture.

"Wow~!"

"Deshou?" The younger figure was quite pleased with the display.

"Subarashii!"

"We'll have to get some kind of dim under-light when we get home." Yuri said, eyes shining as he looked on at the jade sculpture, "It's like one of those lava lamps that look best when it's dark."

"I didn't think you needed a night-light, Yuri." The Russian teased.

"N-nani!?" His face was bright red, but in the dark of the room, it was impossible to see.

Viktor just huffed a laugh at his partner's expense, "A back-light shouldn't be hard to find. But I am kind of surprised at you..."

"Eh? Why?" Yuri was puzzled, turning the flashlight app off and reaching for the discarded paper packing, carefully wrapping the object up again before placing it within its 'nest' of more paper inside the white cardboard box.

"These two together are probably the most expensive things you've ever purchased, that I know of. You've always been so frugal otherwise."

"...Well, I bought your ring last year, and that wasn't cheap..."

"You weren't thinking about it like an engagement ring at the time, just a thank you present. I think I can forgive you for keeping it simple."

Yuri hesitated, his fingers inside the box where he was trying to put the second sculpture away. He eventually started moving again though, releasing the bundle of paper-wrapped jade into the container and closing it, "...It was nearly €800, 10 karat yellow gold. It was actually...all I could afford at the time, even with a payment plan."

"I see." Viktor answered quietly, thumbing his ring a bit where he held himself up, "Then by comparison, the ring really was the most expensive thing you've ever bought. You didn't have to put those souvenirs on any kind of payment plan."

"Maybe not..." The younger figure tacitly agreed, "It's a side-perk to how you've helped me become a better skater." Hazel eyes glanced over at the Russian, then went down to the wedding band where Viktor was holding himself up with both hands on the comforter, "But...if you'd been the one to get them, I imagine they would've been a lot more fancy. Maybe 24 karat gold or something...maybe have some stones in them."

"I've honestly never thought about it." Viktor pointed out, "Even the idea of wanting to replace these with anything is an entirely foreign concept to me. This is the ring you picked, so that makes the pair of them perfect already." He held his right hand up to admire the shine in the city-lights through the window, "You'll have to pry this off my cold, dead hand to get it back." He smirked.

"I would never take it back." The younger figure said simply, reaching to set the second box on the table top behind him, then looking at his own ring, "The one time you took it off was enough, and even though you had a perfectly valid reason for it, it still hurts to remember it ever happening at all."

Slate blue eyes narrowed a little as Viktor saw the pained look on his partner's face, his own expression reeling with guilt from the mention. Instead of letting the sour moment linger though, he scooted forward on the bed, pulled his partner's scarf and coat off, and then pulled him back towards the headboard. Leaning his own back into the pile of many pillows, Viktor turned Yuri around and pulled his back down to his chest, wrapping both arms protectively around his smaller frame, "I'm sorry I put you through that."

"It wasn't your fault." The younger figure answered, resting his arms around where he'd been pinned between his husband's legs, "It's just life. Sometimes it throws us curve balls. We dodge some, and we get beaned in the face with others."

"That was a barrage of curve balls then." Viktor retorted, "All of them were meant for me, but a bunch ended up hitting you, too. ...I had hoped we could've made it more than just a few weeks before we had to weather some major storm, but Mila was right with her warning, way back from the start. St. Petersburg was a pretty rough situation, even though we both tried to make the best of it."

"Well...other than the RSF conference, and basically everything having to do with your father...I really liked St. Petersburg."

"Hm."

"I still want to go back and see the Summer Garden when it's actually summer, too." Yuri suggested, "We were so preoccupied with finding the house that we never really took a vacation."

"Maybe we can figure something out during Nationals." Viktor wondered, "I'd rather neither of us miss them this year, even if the timing is precarious."

"Yeah...of all the weekends Japan and Russia could host their events, it's always on the same one." The younger figure sighed, slouching a little and looking back out through the massive window at the foot of the bed. Shining orbs of headlights far away moved across thin lines of the roadways down on the ground, and Yuri focused on a few, but then blinked his eyes closed for a moment as he considered the possibilities. He then abruptly sat up, turned around, wedged his knees under Viktor's thighs where they were still parted to make room for him, and moved in close. His hands went down on either side of the man's waist, fingers lost under the first set of pillows from the big pile, eyes looking straight ahead.

Viktor just looked at him, a little surprised, "What is it...?"

"I don't like to think about going to competition without you, but I know that if we plan on competing again next season, we both have to go. I don't want to think about you losing your spot at Euros again because you skipped Nationals to come to mine like last time." He started, "So...I think we should just bite the bullet, and accept that we'll be FaceTiming before events instead. It's only a 6-hour difference so it's not like one of us has to be up at 3:30 in the morning just to say 'Davai.' I'll just...catch up with you in Moscow after I'm done in Tokyo, and we'll go from there."

The Russian just gawked at him, making the younger figure wonder if he'd said something wrong. However, when Yuri suddenly felt the man's legs wrap around and cross behind his back, pulling him in closer, he knew it was fine.

"You keep doing that." Viktor mused, forearms loosely going over his husband's shoulders, right hand playing with raven hair, "That's twice today that I've fallen for you."

"I hope that doesn't mean you keep falling out of love with me..." Yuri teased...though wondering it half-seriously at the back of his mind.

"Never." The Russian answered quickly, pulling his husband forward to kiss him.

The gesture calmed Yuri's nerves rather quickly, and he let himself dissolve into the warmth.

.

Short-Program day finally arrived, and with it, the crowds, the announcers, the judges, and the rest of the competition. Joining the four that were already there earlier in the week were Leo de la Iglesia and Michele Crispino, along with his twin, and all the shenanigans that went with it.

Yuri was second on the list, so he was in the prep area stretching while his coach was looking at the rest of the roster.

Black long-coat, dark charcoal-grey suit, black tie, white shirt, no gloves. Viktor had a finger on his lip as he looked at the paper posting, "Hmmmmm... Emil, Yuri, Leo, Seung-gil, Otabek, and then Michele. Not a huge roster for Cup of China but still tough competition. Yuri will be nervous all afternoon. He hates going close to first."

One of these days, I'll teach you to lovegoing first. The Russian thought, When you're the one that sets the bar for everyone else, and makes the rest of the competition dread to see you. He smirked to himself, Everyone always hates going after me because of that. Embrace it, Yuri!

His attention was suddenly cut by the familiar feel of his pocket vibrating, and he pulled it out to see Minako's name on the Caller ID, "Oh, looks like they made it." He clicked to answer and held it up to his ear as he made his way to rink-side, "Konnichiwaaaa~! China e youkoso~!"

"You're such a ham, Viktor."

"And you love me for it. Where are you guys?" He mused, pushing back the curtain.

"Looking from the ice, we're on the left side of the box-seating reserved for other skaters. Oh! I see you. I'm waving!"

Viktor looked up and around, checking for the seating area she mentioned, and then waving back once he spotted her. It didn't seem strange at all that she was by herself at the moment, and he quickly jogged over, pocketing his phone as he went. A few other fans started shrieking when they saw him, and he waved at them as well as he passed.

The inner wall separating rink-side from the audience was taller than Viktor, and a dark blue color, rising up around 10ft high before even touching the floor of the seating area, so by the time the Russian made it over, it was all he could do to crane his head back and wave from far below.

"You look pretty snazzy there, Viktor." Minako gushed, "You're really in coach-mode again!"

"Domo~!" The Russian winked, "How was your trip?"

"Aeroflot kept us waiting for almost 2 hours. I don't know how they stay in business!"

"Right!?" Viktor agreed emphatically, "It's probably because the government owns just more than half of it, but...anyway, Yuri's going out second, so he'll have to come say hi when he's finished. Where's Uncle Mimi?"

Minako's face went blank, not having expected the question so soon, "...He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what...?" His expression went quite dour.

"He's in Moscow."

"Eh? Why?"

The ballerina tried to hide behind the bars of the railing, "He fell off a roof and hurt himself kinda bad."

Facepalm.

"But he's fine! Really! We just talked to him this morning and he's already walking, and the hospital's kicking him out soon!" She insisted, waving her hands around, "He'll be at NHK!"

"Already walking? Hospital is kicking him out?" Viktor pulled his hand down his face a little, but then pointed at her with that same hand, "Don't tell Yuri anything."

"I know!"

"And what do you mean by 'we' if Mimi's still in Russia? Wouldn't you have come alone?"

"Oh, you know...a certain blonde teenager who waited until the last minute to beg to come cuz his best buddy is skating."

"...Yuri is his best buddy now?"

"Otabek!"

"...They're best buddies now?" Viktor blinked at her.

"The way Yura acts, you'd think so. He was crawling up both our butts this past week trying to get a plane ticket. He lucked-out that Mikhail had a momentary lapse of sanity, because he wouldn't have gotten a ticket on such short notice if the big doofus hadn't hurt himself."

Another, but slower facepalm. Viktor glanced around, thinking he'd spot the Russian Punk, but realized the aforementioned teenager was no where around, "Does he know to keep his mouth shut about what happened?"

"Yura's not looking for Yuri right now. But I can message him to make sure he knows not to mention it, if you want."

"Please do; I'm going to make sure they don't run into each other." The Russian started pulling away again, waving as he half-ran back to the prep area, "We'll find you again when the Short Program's done!"

Within said prep area, Yuri was rolling out his stretching mat in an open area off the beaten path. He had some ear-buds in from a wireless headset around his neck, his phone set aside by his backpack against a nearby wall. Listening to music before a show was better than having ear-plugs in, because at least with the music blaring, it prevented him from thinking too much.

He moved down into a forward split, reaching for his right leg and leaning down over it for a few seconds. Rising back up again, he planted both hands on the outside of the mat, just near his hip, and pushed against it to stretch out his back. He repeated it for the left side, and then set his legs together behind him, pushing up on the mat into a Cobra Pose. His lower back popped once as he did it, but he kept going, craning his head back to bend as far as he could, eyes closed as he went.

His phone was playing 'Yuri on Ice,' something calm and uplifting to keep his anxiety down.

"Hey."

Brown eyes opened at the unexpected voice, and he saw the upside-down visage of a face he hadn't expected. Yuri's arms gave out immediately and he slumped forward again, legs flailing behind him, the voice turning to laughter at his expense.

"Y-Yuri!" He blurted, "What are you..." One ear-bud had already fallen out from the panic, "I didn't think you'd be here! Shouldn't you be in St. Petersburg?"

"You sound like you're not happy to see me." Yurio crouched down, elbows over his knees, balancing on just the balls of his feet.

"No way!" The older skater protested, righting himself and then moving forward to give his hug-greeting, "I just didn't expect you! No one said you were coming to Shanghai."

"I got lucky at someone else's expense."

"YURI PLISETSKY." Viktor's voice came, shrill and loud.

Both skaters glanced up in surprise as the older Russian came bounding over, immediately kneeling behind his athlete and covering both of his ears with his hands.

Blue eyes met green, and Viktor wordlessly shook his head as Yuri glanced between them in complete confusion.

"The heck was that all for?" Yurio grumbled, pushing to stand up again, hands in his hoodie pockets. He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and pulled it out nonchalantly.

"V-Viktor...what in the world...?" Yuri grimaced.

[Don't tell Yuri about Mikhail's accident, okay? It'll mess up his SP.] Minako's text read.

Yurio just huffed, pulling his other hand out to reply, [But he's fine, what's the big deal?]

"There's...ah..." Viktor tried to explain, pulling his hands back again so the skater could go back to his work-out. He held both hands up emphatically, a weird look on his face, "It's...there's a surprise later! I didn't want it to be spoiled already!"

"Smooth." Yurio commented, feeling his phone buzz again.

[Nothing is 'fine' until Yuri can talk to Mikhail and see it for himself. Just don't tell him anything! As far as he's concerned, you tagged along and all 3 of us are here. Got it?]

"You guys are both acting weird." Yuri grumbled, "I really have to finish though...I can hear the thing starting out there already so it's only a few minutes until my turn."

"Did you see Otabek anywhere?" Yurio asked, "I was looking for him when I ran into you."

"Oh...uhh..." The older skater looked around, "I saw him when we all got here but not since. He might be changing or something since he's not up till later. Keep looking, you'll find hi-"

"Yuri?"

"Speak of the Devil..." Viktor mused, spotting the Kazakhstani skater coming up from the hall that rounded the short end of the skating arena.

"Hey." The blond huffed, waving casually.

"Hey." The Kazakh replied, looking expressionless as was his manner, but holding his hand out, "I didn't think you were going to be here."

Yurio felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck as he reached back to tap the hand with his own, and he was suddenly grateful that neither Minako nor Mikhail were there to hear what had just been said. He could hear them mocking him at the back of his mind though.

'All that worrying about him being mad you wouldn't be there to cheer him on, and he didn't even think you were going to be there!'

"Y-Yeah!" He finally blurted, "It was a last second thing. You know how it goes. I figured I'd come watch since I have nothing else to do until the Final."

"It's good that you made it." Otabek went on, though taking another step forward as he meant to go on, "Let's both get on that last podium, okay?"

"Of course! I won't go easy on you though."

"You'd better not." The slightly-older skater said, pointing at him, "If you did, I'd have to reconsider thinking that you're a soldier. Don't disappoint me." He took another step, having to turn slightly by then just to see the teen, "But I'll see you later. Sau bol, Yuri."

Viktor snickered behind his hand, but watched quietly as Otabek finally started moving off again. Once he was out of earshot, he snuck up behind his younger counterpart and gingerly pat both of his shoulders, "You want some water for that burn?"

Yurio's face was priceless; a desperate attempt at keeping cool while at the same time stunned and horrified, "...Reconsider...thinking I'm a soldier?" He shrugged Viktor off and huffed to himself, "THAT'S THE WHOLE REASON WE'RE EVEN FRIENDS."

Yuri chortled quietly to himself from where he'd pulled his knees up in front of himself, trying to keep quiet.